Who is this little man who looks like Charlie Chaplin? - Page 3 - Historum

Monash · October 6th, 2010, 03:53 AM

You also have to judge his appearance against the contemporay standard i.e. take a close look at portrait photos from the 1930's and 40's. Your appearance as an adult is heavily influenced by your diet and general environmental conditions as a child. In a lot of the photos I have seen from that era the peopel look ...well I guess you'd call it less healthy (shorter and a bit "dumpy").

By comparison look at photos of current generations. (God knows what we'll look like to peope 40 or 50 years from now). Later generations were taller and healthier by comparsion to Hitlers. Better cameras also help. Plus we're bombarded by market driven images of "beautiful people" to an extent undreamed of in his day.

**sturm** · October 6th, 2010, 04:10 AM

Let me post my question from the thread "Inside a country: Germany" in this thread here, because it is on the topic:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sturm

Since you've been asked why did germans elected Merkel, i would like to ask, why did germans elected A.Hitler?
Many people say during his regime Germany floorished, economy was better, there was unemployment before him, but actually during Gustav Stresemann (and during the time of the so called Weimar Republic) Germany was greatly improving, i know that Stresemann died 1929 but why did at 1933 the germans elected a man who previously tried to practically usurp the power, and truly if we check out the results from the elections after 1924 people kind of stopped there support for the National Socialist party and every new election the party had less and less seats in the parliment.
What exactly in his speeches won the people of Germany? What did they expected from him?

d'artanian · October 6th, 2010, 06:08 AM

The renowned childhood researcher, psychotherapist, and best-selling author Alice Miller wrote about Hitler in her book For Your Own Good. Very interesting view/analysis of the German people and how/why Hitler had such influence over them.

You can read reviews of her book here to get a sense of what the book is about:

http://www.alice-miller.com/books_en.php?page=2a

**sturm** · October 6th, 2010, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d'artanian

The renowned childhood researcher, psychotherapist, and best-selling author Alice Miller wrote about Hitler in her book For Your Own Good. Very interesting view/analysis of the German people and how/why Hitler had such influence over them.

You can read reviews of her book here to get a sense of what the book is about:

http://www.alice-miller.com/books_en.php?page=2a

Thank you.
I want to comment on this though, it is from the link you provided:

Quote:

In her struggles with the question, "What causes evil in the world?" Miller writes here about the childhood of Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin, and other mass murderers. Most recently, she wrote about corporal punishment. (2) She documents a worldwide fact: Most of today's parents and teachers were physically punished as children. Society's argument to justify this phenomenon is that being beaten, especially by a parent, prepares children for life and helps them learn to be obedient; indeed, we are all familiar with the exhortation to "beat some sense into [him/her/them]." In disagreement with this viewpoint, Miller argues that being beaten and unable to defend themselves only teaches children that they are not worthy of protection or respect. Beaten children become humiliated and confused although soon are taught that the beating is "for their own good" and does no lasting harm. Much later, this type of beating becomes a part of their own so-called good parenting—forming the basis for much violence in the world. The events of September 11, 2001, have provided the world an additional example of anger, revenge, and ignorance expressed as violence toward oneself and others—and have brought Miller's For Your Own Good back into focus.

Often i hear that Hitler was "evil" because he was beaten in school or by his father. Well we are speaking of the 19th century and the begging of 20th century, almost in every family the disciplining of the child involved slaping him, or hitting him with a stick, in school that often happened too.
It wasn't something uncommon.

I understand however that the author Alice Miller is a psychoanalyst, so she has a different aproach toward what causes "evil acts".

d'artanian · October 6th, 2010, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sturm

Thank you.
I want to comment on this though, it is from the link you provided:
Often i hear that Hitler was "evil" because he was beaten in school or by his father. Well we are speaking of the 19th century and the begging of 20th century, almost in every family the disciplining of the child involved slaping him, or hitting him with a stick, in school that often happened too.
It wasn't something uncommon.

I understand however that the author Alice Miller is a psychoanalyst, so she has a different aproach toward what causes "evil acts".

Yes, this is exactly what she points out in her book. She talks about the time period, the 19th & 20th centuries. Unfortunately, in parts of the world today, children are still beaten and slapped as a form of parental punishment.
It hasn't stopped.

**A7X** · October 6th, 2010, 12:09 PM

Yea, but I think he was severely beaten, more than what parents of the time did. His father was an alcoholic........

**sturm** · October 6th, 2010, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westedgrunt36

His father was an alcoholic........

I don't know to what extend he was beaten so i won't comment on that.
Winston Churchil was an alcoholic too

rehabnonono · October 6th, 2010, 04:08 PM

Hitler's notion of the German people was equated with some form of dominant virus on the face of the world and was actually accepted because of the impossible times. His vision at a time when many were afraid and seemingly without a future seemed better than the existential oblivion of their mundane lives. Many Germans did not feel they were alive any more.

It is much easier for a mental patient to fit into a social group during times of stress, when everyone is pressured and behaving abnormally.

...he solved the unemployment problem by putting a few million of them in the military and shipping another few million off to be gassed.

**Rosi** · October 10th, 2010, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linschoten

I found it quoted by Lewis Namier in his review of Alan Bullock's 'Hitler, a Study in Tyranny', reprinted in 'Personalities and Powers', 1955. (Namier's collections of essays all make excellent reading!)

Thanks for the reference! I've actually read a book by Bullock on Hitler but can't seem to remember anything from it. More sad than shocking

.